AstraZeneca (AZ) has lost its VP of global communications to the UK’s Royal Mail.
After almost two decades in the pharmaceutical sector, including six years with AZ, Neil McCrae will take up his new role on April 1.
Joining AstraZeneca in 2008 from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), McCrae held a number of roles within the business, including vice-president of corporate communications and head of global media relations.
Prior to joining SmithKline Beecham, GSK’s predecessor, in 1996, he part-owned the communications agency Design Publications.
“We wish Neil all the best in his new role,” said AstraZeneca’s head of global media relations Esra Erkal-Paler.
Erkal-Paler said she was not yet able to say how AstraZeneca would place McCrae, or whether his departure would have any impact on the role of interim executive vice-president of human resources and corporate affairs Caroline Hempstead.
McCrae’s remit at the Royal Mail will include media relations, internal communications, public affairs, corporate responsibility and community investment.